This is an interesting area of research and law. The sample size of the studies, for example, 12 or 20 sperm whales, seem to be too small to extrapolate to the whale community at large. Also, are these whales from a singular pod, are they related? Is there a leader of this group? If so, any avoidance of the noises, or lack of avoidance could be due to the preferences of the leader, which would mean the studies are based on one whale, or whales that are related in any case. Also, my understanding is that sperm whales dive deep to catch their prey so the surface noises would seem to have little, if any, effect on the foraging or deep-sea fishing, if you will, of the sperm whale. It seems more studies are needed to determine the effects, if any of the noises on the whales.
Scott Madsen, esq. I have practiced environmental law since 1998 involving (NEPA), the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the TSCA, RCRA and CERCLA.